Wink unclenched his giant fist just before it hit me, and instead of flying across the tunnel to splatter on the opposite wall, I found myself being batted from the ceiling like some kind of bothersome insect with enough force to both knock the breath out of me and bruise my ribs.

"What is it, Wink?" Nuada said, turning. I suspected his view of me was obstructed by the hulking, growling wall of cave troll who was too busy towering over me and chewing me out to respond.

"You! You from the Market! You followed me you lowly, slimy, spying, black-hearted—"
Nuada stopped his companion's ranting by placing a firm hand on his arm and muttering something to him that I didn't quite catch in my winded state. I was curled like a wounded animal against the cold, slick wall of the tunnel, cautiously massaging my hurt ribs with a hand. "Ouch…" I murmured as I touched a particularly sore spot. "It's good to see you too, good Mister Wink. I do believe you've bruised my ribs."

The once-prince directed Wink with his spear toward the chamber, and after little protesting the troll reluctantly shuffled off, rumbling to himself.

And then it was just me and Nuada, the bare-chested once-prince standing over me, his breathing still slightly labored from training, looking at me with an odd mix of anger and confusion... "You," he said, his brow creasing. "What are you doing here?"

Taking a deep breath to hastily replace what my lungs had lost, I managed to sit myself up against the wall and answer, "I was…curious…about what you wanted to use all those faeries for, Prince Nuada." I decided he probably wouldn't like it if I called him a once-prince. "You took them away in crates bearing the royal war emblem. Forgive me if I overstepped any boundaries, Prince, but—"

"Leave here," he suddenly interrupted me in Elvish. As if the bitter taste of an apology in my mouth wasn't enough, the superior tone of his voice set my blood boiling. I'm a demon, see—I just naturally have issues with authority. My kind was cast from Heaven for not following our leader with blind faith, after all.

"Leave here and tell no one what you've seen or heard. Go now, demon, before my friend loses his temper."

I swallowed and glanced over at Wink, who was nudging one of the rattling crates with a hoof, grunting quietly. It seemed he'd cooled off in a very short amount of time. I didn't fancy the thought of being cuffed again by the troll, because it seemed to me that the once-prince was implying that this time he wouldn't save me.

Well that just made me angry.

I almost spat back with a dangerous "and what if I don't leave", but for once I thought about what I wanted to say before saying it. Maybe playing for a little sympathy would be a better bet. After all, the once-prince vowed to return only when his people needed him, right? He must care some amount about us all.

And so, wincing as I held a hand to my ribs, I looked up at him with big, innocent amber eyes and almost whimpered, "But what if I can't leave? I'm hurt. I can…barely breath."

I squirmed a little and took another deep, steadying breath to show him I was serious, and almost at once his hard gaze softened. "Can you make it back to the Market?" He inquired, leaning down and extending a hand.

I'd never touched a prince before, but the feel of his hand certainly suited the look of it. It was strong and a little hard, but still soft enough to remind me of flesh and not simply warm stone. Almost effortlessly he pulled me to my feet, and this time when I had to catch my breath it was for real. I made a mental note never to upset Mister Wink again if I could help it.

"I don't know," I breathed, leaning against him a little partly for support and partly to feel his sculpted muscles against my side. His skin was hot even through my human clothing.

He seemed to be thinking for a minute as I struggled to straighten myself up, and when I finally accomplished the task he told me, "You may stay here, until you are well again—"

"The Hell!" Wink growled, whirling around, making me flinch. Nuada quickly altered his offer. "But you must be gone before we return."

Find out where they're going! Curiosity prompted. After what it had led to, I suppose the smart thing to do would've been to tell curiosity to shove it, but the reckless part of me was very strong, and before I knew what I was doing I was agreeing with it. The pain in my ribs ceased to mean anything, and almost disappeared entirely.

"Couldn't I come with you?" I countered, my eyes lighting up. The warmth in the once-prince's own eyes seemed to fade significantly. Though he still supported me, I felt his body tense as he said a little less softly, "What do you know about where we are going? If you are well enough to walk, then you should leave here—as I said."

"But—!"

"Leave!!" Wink roared. Nuada's supporting body suddenly left my side, and he began to don his leather tunic once again, along with his red sash. I watched him moodily, resisting the urge to tell him "I can go where I damn well please". I couldn't say that to any sort of prince—at least not while that spear of his was still within his reach, nor while his giant troll friend was in a black mood.

He finished tying the sash about his waist, and I realized that this time he wore a war emblem on his torso as well, flashing silver. He looked up from his redressing and gave me a dangerous look. "You're still here," he said in that same superior tone.

That pretty much tore it.

"Yes, Prince Nuada," I said quickly, heat rising in my face, "I am still here, and I plan on being here until I understand what's going on! And if you won't tell me I'll follow you until I figure it out! So how about it?"

It took several seconds of that once-prince staring at me before I started to fear for my life and curse my treacherous tongue. I was all ready to fade out of the physical world when the once-prince took the spear from its place strapped to his back, and I admittedly took a step or two back in a futile attempt to avoid his strike; but all he did was turn to Wink, jerk his head toward the depths of the tunnel, and say, "It's time to go."

"Finally," Wink grunted, grabbing the two crates beside him and following the pale prince. Nuada took one of the crates from his companion before leading the way down the tunnel without a second look at me.

I swore to the nearest divinity I was going to get my claws into at least one of those two if it killed me. Which it probably would, I thought to myself, and then decided against it in favor of simply following them.

Good girl, curiosity praised me as I clambered up the nearest tunnel wall. "Shove it!" I growled through gritted teeth before scampering across the ceiling after the two strangers.

--

A/N

I tried to keep Nuada in character, which means having him like creatures not human, but having him still have that sort of steely edge that makes him snap at people. Like in the movie when he's yelling at Wink to find Nuala after he kills his father. That was just being bossy.

I suppose if anybody ever talked back to him like Jinx did, he would slice some random appendage off him/her, but I want Jinx to live! She cannot live if she dies from blood loss.

Therefore, please do not bring it up unless you think Nuada should either slap or threaten her. Slapping is girly and threatening is just a bit too evil for him this early in the movie, especially since it would be against one of his own.

Review, please!! Please review!